Golf Course Architecture - Issue 65, July 2021

58 lost in the process. The holes became narrow ribbons of play. The bunker work came to feature flashed-up sand; this looked ominous to the approaching golfer when it came to protecting approach shots into greens but it did not create a natural looking horizon line when viewed laterally across the existing grade of the landscape. Historic restoration projects like this require detailed analysis of the architectural record. It helped that the club had extensive records – something you might expect of a course that over the decades has been home to six US Opens, two US Senior Opens, two US Amateurs, a US Women’s Amateur, three PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup. Ross’s own design drawings proved helpful. The single biggest reveal, however, came from the programme for the 1929 US Women’s Amateur. The pages behind its stylised, Art Deco flapper cover included hole-by-hole ground photography of every green. The undistorted imagery provided a clear vision of putting surfaces and adjoining bunkers – before the effects of Depression-era labour savings maintenance or any post-war modernisation changed things. Over two decades now, Hanse and Wagner have honed a highly efficient version of design/build in their architecture, one that ensures a seamless, efficient coordination of prior planning and on-site construction implementation. The key is the way they work with their in-house shapers, a firm called Caveman Construction. At Oakland Hills, that team was led by veteran shapers Kye Goalby and Blake Conant. Their experience together – dating back to the Rio Olympics Course and including major projects at Winged Foot Golf Club, Streamsong Black and Los Angeles Country Club North – allows for uncluttered communication and mutual trust. As for those 1929 images, Hanse had arranged to upload them onto iPads, which the Caveman team kept at their side whenever a question arose regarding the look or scale of a feature they were building. The scope of work was considerable: bringing tees to grade, restoring and rebuilding bunkers, converting the greens from old soil push-up to contemporary USGA construction specification, a new irrigation system, expanded fairways and significant tree work. To guarantee preservation of the existing green contours during the rebuild process, Hanse and Wagner relied upon laser surveys of the putting OAKLAND H I L LS COUNTRY CLUB Hanse and Wagner referenced a programme for the 1929 US Women’s Amateur, which included hole-by-hole ground photography of every green From left, the first, ninth and tenth holes